GONE: Astrid's Version
by TayliaNinja
Summary: This is the full story of the book GONE from Astrid Ellison's point of view. Sam/Astrid. Fully Canon.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

She was gone.

I was looking directly at her. Mrs. Williams was in the middle of writing an 'o' on the board. The chalk that she was using to write the word 'polynomial' on the board hit the carpet with a soft thud. I stared at the board for a moment, not really accepting what had happened. Then I realized Mrs. Williams was not the only one that had disappeared.

Jink and Michael, the two boys in her study group were gone too. I had been sitting next to them for almost an hour. Math class in room 211 was almost over.

I carefully set my pencil down onto my notebook and got out of my chair.

I walked into the hallway of Perdido Beach School quickly and I found Mr. Trentlake's history classroom where most of the kids my age had class. I slowly opened the door slowly, halfway not wanting to see what happened inside this classroom. When I had the door halfway open I heard the silence in the room and bit my lip.

I walked inside the room and looked around. The history teacher wasn't there. I noticed everyone was looking at me in disappointment as if they hoped that I was their teacher walking inside the room and not myself. I felt with them but I continued to look around the room.

"Where's your teacher?" I asked.

Many of the people shrugged. Some of the people looked unconcerned and bored as if they didn't care. I knew better than that.

"He poofed," a surfer boy that I think goes by the name of Quinn said.

I shook my head, even more concerned now that Quinn had voiced what had really happened. "Something weird is happening. My math study group…there was just three of us, plus the teacher. They all just disappeared."

"What?" Sam Temple asked.

I turned my gaze to him. His bright eyes looked at me in concern and even fear. At least he understood what I was feeling. I felt a wave of fear go through me. Sam Temple had an old reputation of being a hero. If he was scared too then I should be also.

"They're gone. They all just…disappeared." I said the words quietly, trying not to let my emotions show too well.

"What about your teacher?" a across-the-border looking boy asked me, his brown eyes searching mine.

"She's gone, too," I replied.

"Gone?" The boy narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Poof," Quinn said, this time not giggling.

Sounds started to register in my ears. Distantly I heard the horrid sounds of cars colliding, alarms sounding, and more alarms. I listened close and closed my eyes as the mystery became even more confusing. I opened my eyes almost immediately but I was still thinking quickly.

When I opened my eyes I noticed Sam Temple rising from his seat, slowly like it wasn't his right to do so. He kept his eyes on the ground as he stood and walked towards the door where I was standing. I noticed his eyes on the ground so I moved out of the way so he could walk by.

Quinn was rising out of his seat next, ready to follow his best friend out of the room. I walked behind Quinn as he stepped in behind Sam. Sam was checking rooms and hallways, looking for teachers. So far it looked as if he'd found none, judging by the grim look on his face. He moved towards my math classroom.

I walked into the classroom and looked around. It was still empty. The books lay open and the chairs moved in the positions of when the boys were still sitting in them.

Sam was observing the room with a keen eye and I noticed his eyes were on the chalk board. The words "polyn" were still the only words on the chalk board.

"She was writing the word 'polynomial,'" I said in a quiet voice.

Sam said, "Yeah, I was going to guess that."

Quinn made a feeble attempt at humor but it didn't work very well.

"She disappeared in the middle of writing the 'o'. I was looking right at her." I said the words as in explanation, ignoring Quinn's attempt.

Sam pointed at the chalk on the ground that was right where it had fallen a few minutes before when Mrs. Williams disappeared.

Quinn said, "This is not normal,"

I looked at Quinn. Today he was dressed in baggy shorts, Army-surplus desert boots, a pink golf shirt, and a gray fedora. I narrowed my eyes at him. This boy was not normal.

"The two other kids, plus the teacher are gone. All except Astrid," Sam said and I smiled to myself when his voiced tripped over saying my name. "That's definitely not normal."

"Yeah. Kind of quiet in here, brah," Quinn said. "Okay, I'm ready to wake up now."

I looked at Quinn, half amused and half scared. This time Quinn wasn't kidding. He wanted to wake up. I did too. The next second I wondered why Quinn had called Sam "brah". I didn't waste my time thinking about it.

Then somebody screamed.

We stumbled into the hallway, falling into each other as we tried to see what was going on. The sound of that scream had not been good. It turned out to be a sixth grader that goes by the name of Becka. She was holding her cell phone to herself, her green eyes wide.

"There's no answer. There's no answer." Becka cried with her voice tripping over the words. "There's nothing."

For two seconds everyone in the hallway froze, as if they were hypnotized. Then all of the students starting punching in numbers on their cell phones, seemingly desperate to prove Becka wrong.

There was an outbreak of whining, crying, and screaming. I blocked out some of the kids and only listened to a few.

"My mom would be home, she would answer. It's not even ringing."

"I have three bars."

The chatter turned into yelling and screaming. The children were starting to panic. Somebody told people to call 911.

"Who do you think I called numbnuts?"

Apparently these kids were smarter than I thought. They actually called a helpful number. But I couldn't pretend that the new revelation that 911 didn't pick up didn't worry me.

"There's no 911?" a scared voice asked.

"There's nothing. I've gone through half my speed dials, and there's not anything."

The alarm bell rang loudly. Some of the people flinched as if they'd never heard the alarm go off before. I moved my gaze to Sam. His eyes were wide, a strange look of alarm and readiness in them.

Children started asking each other what to do. They were confused and it was obvious some of them wondered if they should transition to their next class.

"Someone must be in the office," a young voice called out with a sudden yet stupid hope. "The bell went off."

"It's on a timer, moron." Howard said, walking up toward us in the hallway.

I looked at Howard. His small body was filled with confidence because he was Orc's number-one toady. His eyes scanned the room as if he was looking for trouble.

"They have a TV in the teachers' lounge," I said as a sudden idea come to my mind.

Sam looked at me with mild surprise and at the same time we raced to the teachers' lounge, with odd Quinn following behind us. We ran down the stairs and onto the bottom floor. Sam put his hand on the door of the lounge and we all froze.

"We're not supposed to go in there," I said quietly.

"You care?" Quinn said as if he thought I was crazy for thinking of the rules at a time like this.

Sam pushed the door open. I looked around the room. A carton of yogurt was on the floor, the refrigerator open. The TV was on but there was no picture on it. All I saw was static.

I scanned the room, looking quickly for the remote just like Sam was doing.

Surprisingly, Quinn was the one who found the remote. He began running through the channels, pushing the button hard and quick. There was nothing on the TV. All there was was static.

"Cable's out," Sam said and his eyes told me he knew how stupid he sounded.

I reached behind the set as a sudden idea came to mind. I unscrewed the coaxial cable and the screen flickered, the quality of the blurry static changed a little but there was still nothing on the screen.

"You can always get channel nine," Quinn said and I began to feel bad for thinking he was stupid. "Even without cable."

"Teachers, some of the kids, cable, broadcast, cell phones, all gone at the same time?" I frowned, my head working hard to figure out what was going on. The two boys looked at me, as if they were expecting me to suddenly say that I knew what was going on. I knew I had a reputation of being a genius. Astrid the Genius, I was called. I hated that name but there was nothing I could do about it.

"It doesn't make sense." I said finally and Sam sighed slightly then his eyes went bright with an idea.

He moved to the wall phone and lifted the receiver, a landline. His eyebrows knitted together and he shook his head slightly. "No dial tone. Is there a radio in here?"

He looked at me and we connected eyes for a moment. I looked away, trying to hide my sudden excitement and scanned the room for a radio. Together Sam, Quinn and I looked for a radio in the teachers' lounge. It turned out there was none.

The door suddenly slammed open. I looked up quickly from the couch I was looking at uselessly and I noticed there were two young fifth grade looking boys. Their faces were filled with excitement and one of them walked closer to us and yelled, "We own the school!" while the other one gave a wild hoot sound.

"We're going to bust open the candy machine," the one who had yelled announced, his blue eyes wild and his brown hair tousled.

Sam said, "That's maybe not a good idea,"

"You can't tell us what to do." The first one announced again. The younger looking one looked between Sam and his friend quickly, as if he was wondering if he should do anything. He had brown eyes and a blue t-shirt on.

"You're right, little dude. But look, how about we try and keep it together until we figure out what's going on?" Sam said, taking the lead. I looked at him with a smile. He always seemed to do that.

"You keep it together!" the kid yelled at Sam and the younger one hooted once more. They disappeared through the doorway.

I heard Sam mutter, "I guess it would be wrong to ask them to bring me a Twix,"

I stopped myself from laughing and looked away from him. But there was something else on my mind. I was thinking, the wheels turning in my brain quickly. I thought of something.

"Fifteen." I said.

Quinn didn't understand. "No, man, they were like, ten."

I shook my head. "Not them. The kids in my class. Jink and Michael. They were both math whizzes, better than me, but they had LDs-" I stopped and told them what LDs stood for because Quinn had given me a blank look. "Dyslexia. That kept them back. They were both a little older. I was the only fourteen-year-old."

Sam's bright eyes lit up. "I think Josh was maybe fifteen, in our class,"

"So?" Quinn said.

"So he was fifteen, Quinn. He just...just disappeared. Blink and he was gone."

"No way," Quinn shook his head. "Every adult and older kid in the whole school just disappears? That makes no sense."

I didn't think it made sense either. None of it made sense. I was thinking again and off in my own world. It could not have been just the school where the people disappeared. Those car alarms and the car crashes. I spoke what I thought aloud.

"What?" Quinn snapped.

"The phones and TV?" I tried to explain to him.

"No, no, no, no, no," Quinn said. He was smiling half way and his eyes shown his surprise and sadness.

"My mom," Sam said sadly.

"Man, stop this," Quinn said loudly. "All right? It's not funny."

My eyes moved to Sam who was visibly swallowing and breathing in and out over and over again. Quinn's eyes were wide and scared. I frowned to myself, trying to make sense of this whole thing.

"We have to check it out," Sam announced.

I looked up. Quinn was already trying to run away, loudly releasing a sobbing type of breath. Sam held onto his best friend by his shoulders.

"Get off me, brah," Quinn snapped. "I have to go home. I have to see."

"We all have to go see," Sam told Quinn and me. "But let's go together."

I looked at Sam. He looked so calm and collected. I could tell he was scared and confused of course but his eyes were filled with leadership and love for his panicking best friend. He tightened his grip on Quinn when he tried to pull away from him.

"Quinn. Together. Come on, man, it's like a wipeout, you know? You get launched, what do you do?"

"You try not to get worked up," Quinn replied shakily.

"That's right." Sam smiled slightly. "You keep your head straight through the spin cycle. Right? Then you swim toward daylight."

I smiled. "Surfing metaphor?"

Quinn finally stoped resisting his friend and told us he wanted to check on his house first. He kept saying that it was messed up over and over again. I agreed with him.

"Astrid?" Sam said my name as if he was asking me if I wanted to come along. I looked at him, hoping to see something in his tanned face. I didn't know what to do. I was lost. I had to look to him, Sam Temple for guidance.

We started to walk down the hallway. Voices were raised loudly. There was babbling. They wanted it to be okay and making noise seemed to be the answer. Some of them were just being wild, some screaming.

"Come with us, Astrid, okay?" Sam said to me. "We'll be safer together."

I flinched at the word "safer". I looked at Sam's bright eyes. Surfer Sam, my long-lasting crush. I never thought I'd look to him in a time like this. I never thought he'd be such a leader. I always thought of him as being a normal teen keeping a low profile. I nodded.

* * *

_What do you think of it so far? Please leave reviews and tell me everything you think. Suggestions are always welcome. _

_Oh and please review. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

We walked out of the school quickly.

I looked around. The green grass was covered with kids. The outside of Perdido Beach School was filled with kids. Children were everywhere. Most were crying. Some walked in odd ways as if they were scared the sky would fall on them. I looked away.

"What about all these little kids?" Sam said. "They'll wander into the street and get run over."

They wouldn't get run over, I thought to myself as I moved my gaze to the streets. The streets by the school were usually full of cars moving but right now I couldn't see a car moving in sight. The stoplight turned from red to green and yet no cars came. I could hear the car alarms louder now, ringing in my ears.

"You see any cars moving?" Quinn asked.

"First we see about our parents," I said. "It's not like there aren't any adults anywhere." I stopped, thinking over what I had just said before amending it. "I mean, it's unlikely there are no adults."

"Yeah," I heard Sam say. "There must be adults. Right?"

"My mom will most likely be either home or playing tennis," I informed the boys. "Unless she has an appointment or something. My mom or dad will have my little brother. My dad's at work. He works at PBNP."

Sam nodded slightly, thinking over what I had just said. Quinn began to walk down the road quickly, his long legs moving fast. Sam and I followed him as fast as we could.

Together the three of us walked down Sheridan Avenue and then turned right on Alameda.

A car had smashed into a Toyota SUV at the corner of Sheridan Avenue. The engine was left running. An alarm went on from the Toyota for a moment then suddenly the car went silent. Steam came shooting up from the broken hood.

I looked at the car closely, my eyes keen on ever y detail of the scene. There was nobody inside the car. I also noticed something else. The doors were still locked. I looked at Sam and checked if he had noticed. Judging by his facial expression, he did.

"The doors are still locked. See the knobs?" I said. "If anyone had been inside and gotten out, the doors would be unlocked."

Sam nodded, his eyes showing he already knew but didn't want it confirmed. Quinn mentioned how the driver blinked out. I nodded.

We walked toward Quinn's house. I watched the surfer boy as we walked down the street. His eyes were normal, his face calm. But I could see through him. He wasn't calm. My suspicions were proven correct when suddenly the boy started running.

I was caught almost by surprise and Sam and I ran to catch up. I noticed that in Quinn haste his ridiculous looking hat had fallen off of his head. I was going to say something but Sam picked it up as he ran beside me.

Quinn had already busted open the door and was inside his house by the time Sam and I had caught up to him.

"Mom. Dad. Hey!" Quinn yelled.

I didn't like to listen to his voice. It sounded desperate and frightened, so much unlike the cool surfer boy Quinn I was used to hearing. Quinn's voice seemed to gradually become louder and louder and more desperate. His sobbing became louder also. I tried to zone it out but I could not.

Quinn ran down the stairs, tears staining his cheeks. He still had his shades on so it blocked out having to see his puffed-up eyes. I was thankful.

Sam and I stood in the kitchen watching Quinn, who was breathing harder than usual. "She's not here, man. She's not here. The phones are dead. Did she leave a note or anything? Do you see a note? Look for a note."

I felt sorry for Quinn and I moved toward the light switch, flipping it on. "The power is still on."

"What if they're dead?" Quinn sobbed. "This can't be happening. This is just some kinds of nightmare or something. This…this isn't even possible." Quinn desperately picked up the phone and clicked a button as he held it to his ear. He babbled to himself as he pushed buttons over and over again.

I looked away from Quinn. I didn't want to see him anymore. He was taking it worse and either of us. I heard Quinn say, "I had a fight with my dad last night."

I said, "Don't start thinking that way. One thing we know: _you_ didn't cause this. None of us caused this."

I looked at both of the boys' eyes. Quinn's was covered by his shades but from what I could see when I squinted his eyes were still puffy and red. Sam's eyes got my attention. They were glazed over, almost guilty. I wondered why.

I moved and put my hand on Quinn's shoulder. He sobbed openly and pulled his shades off. He dropped to the floor.

"It's going to be okay," I lied. I said it because I was trying to convince and help Quinn. But I also needed to be convinced myself. I repeated the words over and over in my head.

"Yeah," I heard Sam say. "Of course it is. This is just some…." He trailed off.

"Maybe it was God," Quinn said suddenly. "It was God." He looked suddenly hopeful.

"Maybe," Sam said. I noticed a trail of doubt on his voice. I wondered if he was a Christian. I looked at him.

"What else could it be?" Quinn babbled on and on. He said it would be okay. He kept repeating it.

"Astrid's house next," Sam said suddenly as if he was trying to make up for Quinn's babbling. "She's closest."

I narrowed my eyes, surprised. "You know where I live?"

He looked suddenly awkward and slightly embarrassed. I was so confused today. I hated it. I usually knew everything. I usually knew what was going on. Sam simply said, "I probably saw you sometime."

In my head I knew he was lying. I could see through bluffing very easily. I let it go though.

The walk to my house took ten minutes. I looked around. I kept seeing more and more cars along the sides of the streets with nobody in them. I lawn mower was smashed against the side of a house. I saw a dog running along the sidewalk with his leash being dragged behind him, his eyes wild.

We arrived at my house. I've lived here all my life. There was a pool outback, two stories, four bedrooms, and three bathrooms. I saw Sam looked at my house in mild surprise. I wondered what his house looked like. I'd wondered that for a while now. My house wasn't fully fancy but it was very clean. It had to be clean because Petey was around. We didn't want him getting into things. The electrical sockets had childproof covers and there were kid-proof knobs on the stove to stop Petey from hurting himself.

I noticed Sam looking at them and felt a rush of embarrassment. I hoped he didn't think they were for me.

"It's not for me," I said to make sure. "It's for Little Pete."

Sam nodded. "I know. He's…." Sam stopped talking as if he was unsure of what to say.

"He's autistic," I said like it was no big deal because I was trying to reassure myself that it wasn't. "Well, no one here,"

"Where's your brother?" Sam asked me.

I found myself yelling. I was scared. "I don't know, alright? I don't know where he is." I shivered and covered my mouth with one of my hands.

"Call to him," Quinn suggested. His voice had changed. It was almost like he was embarrassed for freaking out earlier.

"Call to him? He won't answer." I said, my teeth gritted together. "He's autistic. Severly. He doesn't..he doesn't relate. He won't answer, all right? I can yell his name all day."

I felt horrible. I was scared. Where was my brother? I could not call for him. What I said was true. I was fighting back tears already.

"It's okay, Astrid. We're going to make sure," Sam was already trying to calm me down. "If he's here, we'll find him."

I nodded and closed my eyes, fighting tears. I didn't want to break down like Quinn did. Especially in front of Sam.

We searched the house. I looked in the kitchen, under beds, in closets, and the bathrooms. Petey was nowhere to be seen. I was taking deep breaths.

"We should check Mrs. Johnsons' house," I said. "She takes care of him in the daytime sometimes. Mom and Dad could have dropped him off there."

Sam nodded and was already out the door in a second. I followed him, almost tripping on the steps outside my house. We then ran across the street, still looking both ways and checked every inch of her house for my brother. He wasn't there. Nobody was there.

"He must be with my mom, or maybe my dad took him to the plant with him. He does that when there's no one else to babysit." I said desperately as if trying to convince myself.

I was falling apart.

"Let's keep moving," Sam said. "Don't worry about Little Pete. We'll find him."

I sniffed. "Is that mean to be a pro forma reassurance or a specific commitment?"

Sam looked confused, his bright eyes blank. "Sorry?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm sorry. I meant, you'll help me find Petey?"

"Sure."

I smiled a watery smile at him and he lead us toward his house.

* * *

_I'm sorry this chapter is so short. I'm trying to write the chapters in actual way the story was written and going by chapters._

_Please review._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The cars were still in the road.

We walked pass another car crash. A FedEx truck had run into a hedge and then slammed into an Elm tree in somebody's yard. The grass was ripped up and the old engine was steaming.

There was a distant look in Quinn's eyes. He seemed to not want to believe what was going on. I sighed softly, my blonde hair covering my eyes. I felt somebody's eyes on me and I lifted my right hand so I could push my hair out of my eyes. I soon met Sam's bright eyes. His eyes were on mine. I looked away.

I move my focus to the road we were walking on. I'd had a crush on Sam Temple since we were in fourth grade together. We'd never had much contact with each other because I'd always been scared to talk to him. I noticed dimly the sound of laughter and looked up.

There were two kids standing in the green grass of their house. They tossed a big green ball back and forth to each other.

"Our mom's not home," The fourth grade looking one said. "I'm supposed to go to my piano class this afternoon. But I don't know how to get there."

The younger one with the pigtails said, "And I have tapdance. We're getting our costumes for the recital. I'm going to be a ladybug."

I looked at Sam. Naturally he was the one the children were asking for information from. For some reason Sam always had an air of being a leader. His eyes looked at the kids closely as he thought of a response.

"You know how to get to the plaza?" Sam asked them. "You know, in town?"

The older boy nodded, his shaggy brown hair covering his eyes. "I guess so."

Sam smiled. "You should go there."

"We're not supposed to leave the house," The girl said, shaking her head quickly.

The boy told Sam that his grandma lives in Laguna Beach and mentioned how she could probably come and get them but the phone didn't work when they tried.

"I know. Maybe go wait down by the plaza, right?" The kid stared at him with big eyes. "Hey, don't get too upset, okay? You have any cookies or ice cream in the house?"

The kid said, "I guess so."

"Well there's no one telling you not to eat a cookie is there?" Your folks will show up soon, I think. But in the meantime have a cookie, then come down to the plaza."

I frowned. Telling kids to eat cookies as a way of comfort didn't seem right to me. "That's your solution? Have a cookie?"

"No, my solution is to run down to the beach and hide out until this is all over," Sam smiled but I had a feeling that he actually didn't oppose to that idea much. "But a cookie never hurts."

We continued our walk. I looked at Sam over and over, following him. I had no idea where his house was. We were headed east of downtown and we got to his house quicker than I expected. His family owned a one-story house with a very small yard. There were visibly weeds in the yard and the small lawn needed to be mowed. It looked old and squashed-looking. I felt a small sense of sorrow for him. I wondered what it would be like to live in a tiny house like this.

"This is it, "Sam said. "We don't believe in showing off with a big house and all."

I still felt sorry for him because now I could tell he was slightly embarrassed to have me see such a house. I decided to point out the positive things. "Well, you live near Town Beach." I pointed to the beach.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Two minute walk. Less if I cut through the yard of the house where the biker gang lives."

I raised my eyebrows. It seemed this neighborhood was getting worse in worse. "Biker gang?"

"Not the whole gang, really, just Killer and his girlfriend Accomplice." Sam attempted to make a joke. I frowned, not liking the attempt. "Sorry. Bad joke. It's not a great neighborhood."

Sam's eyes moved to the house as if he was wondering whether or not to go inside. He seemed to know that his mother was most likely not be in the house.

He led us up the creaky stairs and onto his porch. It was a narrow porch and we all pushed against each other to fit as Sam opened the door to his house. I could hear the refrigerator making noise as we walked into the old looking house.

"Mom?" Sam called.

I could see the sadness in his eyes when no answer came.

"Maybe she's up the hill," Quinn said hopefully.

Sam shook his head, sadness disappearing. "No, she's gone like the others."

The kitchen was next to us and I looked around. The house, true to say, wasn't very clean. There were wrappers left on the kitchen table and it needed to be vacuumed. Sam had moved to the stove which had been on. I moved toward him and noticed the frying pan was burned and blackened. Sam frowned and turned off the cooktop.

"This is going to be a problem all over town," Sam said.

"Yeah, stoves left on, cars running. Somebody needs to go around and make sure things are off and the little kids are with someone. And there's pills, and alcohol, and some people probably have guns."

"In this neighborhood some people have artillery," Sam told me.

"It has to be God," Quinn said in a dreamy voice. Quinn was standing a little bit away from us, looking at us with big eyes "I mean, how else, right? No one else could do this. Just make all adults disappear."

"Everyone fifteen and over," I corrected him. "Fifteen isn't an adult. Trust me, I was in class with them." I walked away from the kitchen and looked around the living room. They had a small couch, old of course. The TV was in front of the couch and a bag of chips was left on the table. It was potato chips, my dad's favorite food. I suddenly felt the need to get away from the two boys, even if just for a second.

"Can I use the bathroom, Sam?"

I looked at Sam with pleading eyes. He looked reluctant but nodded. I found the door to the bathroom and closed it behind me, turning on the lights as I did so. The bathroom was small, a sink and a toilet. It had a cleaning towel sitting beside the sink next to the soup bar.

I washed my hands, turning on the sink. The cold water felt good on my hands. I looked in the mirror at my face as I applied soap, rubbing the soap bar within my hands. My blond hair was straight, as it usually was. My blue eyes stared at myself in the mirror, trying to contain myself.

It was going to be okay, I told myself and sighed. I finished washing and slowly opened the bathroom door, turning off the bathroom light. I walked into the narrow hallway and passed a few doors, looking curiously inside them. I couldn't help it. I'd always wanted to see what Sam's house looked like, where he lived and spent his time. Then something caught my eye.

It was a light. I looked both ways and quickly walked into the messy room. Judging by the text books and such laid around the room, it was Sam's. There was a poster of some surfer on the wall, giving me another clue but my attention was on the light.

It was floating, it looked like. I was reminded suddenly of my little brother and his unusual ways. I took a deep breath and almost ran out of his bedroom, surprised and confused at what I had saw. As I walked I thought it over. Sam had probably somehow put the light there and judging by the way the door was almost closed and the shirts laying in front of it, Sam didn't want the fact to be known.

"I don't think it was God," I heard Sam say as I walked into the kitchen.

"Dude. Had to be."

"Maybe Quinn's right. There's nothing, you know, normal, that can do this," I said and for some reason I thought of Petey and Sam. "Is there? It doesn't make sense. It's not possible and yet it happened."

"Sometimes impossible things happen," Sam said as his way of explanation.

I looked at him. His pretty eyes were stubborn. And, for some reason, something about him was different since the last time I had seen him. He was unusual too. But I argued with him anyway.

"No, they don't. The universe has laws. All the stuff we learn in science class. You know, like the laws of motion, or nothing can go as fast as the speed of light. Or gravity. Impossible things don't happen." I said forcefully and then noticed both boys were giving me annoyed looks. "Sorry. It's not really the time to be lecturing, is it?"

Sam bit his lip. I looked at him. He seemed to be thinking something over. His eyes flashed toward me and then Quinn before he said, "I'm going to change my shirt, okay? In my room. I'll be right back. There's stuff to drink in the fridge. Go ahead."

I knew why he said that. Not only would he be changing his shirt but he'd be checking on his light. I felt sorry for him. His eyes were glazed with worry as he walked quickly away and into his room.

I looked at Quinn and we locked eyes for a moment. He seemed nervous and scared, his big eyes opened wide. I looked away and continued to explore Sam's house. I went into the living room and my eyes moved, once again, to the TV. I pushed the ON button in a sudden charge of hope but, once again, nothing happened but a grey screen of nothing. I sighed.

Then I noticed something else.

A laptop was on the table. I could not believe I had not noticed it before. Perhaps I had too much on my mind, I thought. The laptop was open to a Word document, I noticed as I walked towards it.

Quinn and I looked at it and I yelled, "Sam?"

Sam walked into the room a little slowly and looked around, his light brown hair getting in the way of his eyes.

"Your mom was writing on her laptop," I said.

He shrugged. "Probably checking email." Sam sat down at the table and looked at the screen and he raised his eyebrows a fraction when he realized it was a dairy and not an email.

I quietly came and read over his shoulder, feeling guilty.

_It happened again last night. I wish I could talk to G. But she'll think I'm crazy. I could lose my job. She'll think I'm on drugs. If I had a way to put cameras all over, I could get some proof. But I have no proof, and C's "mother" is rich and generous to CA. I'd be out of the door. Even if I tell someone the whole truth, they'll just put me down as an overwrought mother._

_Sooner or later, C or one of the others will do something serious. Someone will get hurt. Just like S with T._

_Maybe I'll confront C. I don't think he'll confess. Would it make any difference if he knew everything?_

I stared at the page, trying not to make if obvious I was peeking. Sam was staring at the page with an odd look on his face. The words filled my head and I was franticly trying to figure out what all of it meant. Then Sam snapped the laptop shut and rose from his chair.

"Let's go." He said with a sort of shaky voice.

"Where?" Quinn asked, surprised.

"Anywhere but here,"

I looked at the table. Something was odd about that diary. Obviously "CA" was Coates Academy and "S" was probably Sam. But I wondered who "C" and "G" was. But the line that said, "Just like S with T" seemed to stick out. Had Sam hurt somebody? It wasn't my business, I told myself as I walked out the front door of Sam's house and walked into the sidewalk that happened to take up most of his yard.

* * *

_Finally a new chapter is up. I'm sorry but I'm very busy. I will warn you, updates will come less frequent when school starts in September. My High School is going to suck with homework. The chapters will keep coming. I was also wondering this: I just finished reading Hunger and I was wondering if anybody would like it if I wrote a story about what I think will happen after Hunger? _

_Please review. _


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Sam suggested we head to the plaza.

"Why?" Quinn asked.

Quinn seemed confused so I offered an explanation. "It's where people will probably go," I said. "There's nowhere else, is there? Unless they go back to the school. If anyone knows anything, or if there are any adults, that's where they'd be."

We continued walking down the paved black road. The Spanish-style stucco houses were mostly empty and I continued to hear distant car alarms. I wondered who might be able to help us. Then I noticed more and more kids walking beside us. There was one, perhaps fifth grade with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a calm look on his face as he pulled his little brother along with him. More and more came behind him.

I noticed a kid was running, his black hair seeming to fly around his face. He had a stricken look on his face. I looked to Sam, then to him. But then the smell of the smoke came.

It smelled horrible.

I saw an orange flame come from the window of the apartment building. The smoke was rising quickly from there, shooting into the sky. Worried, I walked quicker, craning to get a look and see if anybody was inside that burning building.

"Is anybody in there?" I called.

Dozens of kids stood around the plaza, staring hopelessly at the flames coming out of the window. The flames were getting bigger and the smoke even more thick. Somebody had to do something. But nobody seemed to be.

"Great," I heard Sam say. My eyes immediately turned to him. "You guys, go to the day care. Tell them to get the littles out of there."

I watched as the two boys stared at Sam with blank eyes as if they were wondering why he was telling them what to do. Sam's eyes roared with annoyance.

"Now. Go. Do it!" He said loudly, and the two boys suddenly took off running towards the day care.

He pointed to two more kids who were standing around him. "You and you. Go into the hardware store, get the longest hose you can find. Get a nozzle, too. I think there's a spigot in that alley. Start spraying water on the side of the hardware store up on the roof."

Once again the two stared at Sam as if he was an insect. Sam's looked as if he was trying not to yell at them. "Dudes. Not tomorrow. Now. Now. Go! Quinn? You better go with them. We want to wet down the hardware-that's where the wind will take the fire next."

Quinn hesitated, looking down at his shoes.

Sam was growing frustrated, as I was. These kids were standing around doing nothing as that building's flames got higher and higher. Sam moved to the front of the crowd and began to speak.

"Hey, listen up, this isn't Disney Channel. We can't just watch this happen. There are no adults. There's no fire department. _We_ are the fire department."

He said the words loudly, catching the attention of everyone in the plaza.

Then Edilio appeared and said, "Sam's right. What do you need, Sam? I'm with you."

"Okay. Quinn? The hoses from the hardware store. Let's get the big hoses from the fire station. Hook 'em up to the hydrant."

Will continued to yell orders to the kids, directing them on what to do. He knew how to save the hardware store and day care. He looked like a natural leader, standing and giving in orders with an air of authority to his voice.

But then we heard it.

It was wailing, scared crying. I froze and looked from the apartment building to Sam. I felt horrible. Somewhere in that upstairs room of the apartment held a child.

"There's someone up there," moaned a girl that I recognized as Heather.

Sam hissed for silence and we all obeyed. I heard the crackling of the blazing fire, the sounds of the distant car alarms going off until he heard a new cry called. This time it was a word.

"Mommy."

The child repeated the call twice. It was horrible. That child was stuck in the burning building, calling for its mother.

"Mommy, I'm scared." Orc mocked the child. Howard stood next to Orc, looking at the bully in admiration.

Kids began to move away from him. I was disgusted. He was making fun of a little kid that could dead any minute now.

"What?" Demanded Orc, looking around and noticing people giving him looks of dislike.

Howard sneered, "Don't sorry. School Bus Sam will save us all, won't you, Sam?"

A few people glared at Howard but I noticed some seemed to believe the statement. Jennifer Smith nodded enthusiastically, causing a slight from to form on Howard's face

Sam moved to talk to Edilio quietly and a minute later Edilio and his small crew of well muscled kids ran out of the plaza. Sam had moved to view the apartment building where the child was.

"Hey, up there." He yelled. "Kid. Can you get to the door or window?"

I suddenly knew what he was going to do. Sam was a hero, the heroic blood in him. He was going to go into that burning building in an attempt to save a little kid. I thought desperately of a way to help him before remembering what really killed people in fires.

And I wasn't going to let Sam get killed.

I ran as fast as I could toward the daycare I had once stayed at when I was a little kid. I reached Barbara's Day Care quicker than I thought I would, opening the door and stepping inside. There was nobody in the room. Those boys must have done what Sam had asked and lead the preschoolers out of the room.

I ran to the bathroom, reaching in the cupboard and pulled out a cloth. I rinse it down in the water of the sink and ran back out into the plaza where Sam still stood.

"If you're going on there, wrap this around your face." I showed him the soaked cloth.

He looked moderately alarmed. "Did I say I was going in there?"

I didn't answer because I knew he would go inside the burning apartment building.

"Don't get hurt," I said instead.

"Good advice," Sam said dryly, doing as I had instructed and carefully wrapping the soaked cloth around his face, covering his mouth and nose.

I grabbed his arm. I suddenly felt the need to lecture him, to tell him how to stay safe. I felt the need to protect him. I'd only been on speaking terms for a few hours but I felt close to him.

"Look, Sam, it's not fire that kills people, it's smoke. If you get too much smoke, your lungs will swell up, they'll fill with fluid."

His bright eyes flashed with worry for a second before returning to a determined stare. "How much is too much?"

I smiled. He acted as if I knew everything but I didn't. I knew my reputation of being the smartest girl in the school.

"I don't know everything, Sam."

Sam's eyes moved quickly to my hand then to my face, then back to my hand that was hanging loosely at my side. For a few seconds I recognized an entire new emotion flicker across his good-looking face. I saw fear. I saw worry. I saw confusion. Then his eyes were back on my hand. I thought for a second he was going to take it in his but he didn't.

He said, "Here goes." He smiled shakily at me. I smiled back.

"Go for it, Sam!" a male voice yelled encouragement from the crowd and cheers broke out over the plaza. They wanted Sam to stop the fire and save the little girl. And they obviously thought him capable.

Sam began to move away and I suddenly realized what was going on. Sam Temple, the cute and quiet boy I'd always had my eye on, was going into a burning building in an effort to save the life of a child. He might not come back out of that building alive. I felt a sudden urge to hug him, to run over to him and put my arms around his neck but he was gone.

The next few minutes were pure torture. Edilio had returned with a ladder that he played on the ground by the window, pulling the steps up and climbing to the top while he waited for Sam to open it. Quinn returned with a huge garden hose and placed that next to the ladder, hooking it up and getting it ready. I was caught up in worry. Was he all right? What was going on? Was the child okay? Was it going okay? I could not think of the possibilities.

Then I saw a bright green and white light. It came from right where Edilio was perched on the shiny silver ladder. It came from behind the window inside the room. Something was going on. I watched, waiting for another light of sign of something going on.

Then, through the smoke I saw him. Sam had opened the window and he looked to be catching his breath, his face hardly able to be seen in the black cloud of smoke. Edilio leaned over and held his hands open for the kid whom Sam gratefully dropped into his hands.

Cheers rang through the assembled crowed. They obviously thought both the little girl and Sam were safe and fine. They thought Sam had saved her. They thought he was a hero.

But I knew better. The child wasn't moving. It would have been crying and squirming. But it stood still.

Edilio was pulling Sam out of the building and helping him down the ladder as a few kids came and took the little girl. Sam's head banged against the aluminum and I winced. That had to have hurt.

Then I noticed Sam was on fire.

His clothes were smoking, a small flame shining brightly. Quinn sprayed Sam with a hose and made sure Sam was not on fire anymore before finally stopping.

Sam fell to the ground.

I was running before I knew I was. I arrived at where Sam lay and I ran my hands over his face. I reached under his shirt and felt for a pulse. It came with a quick thump-thump-thump.

"Somebody get me an oxygen mask!"

I yelled the order loudly and one of Edilio's mean brought me one. Apparently Edilio had come prepared. I was beginning to like the guy more and more.

Sam needed to wake up. His eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling slowly. He was clearly asleep but I had to give him more oxygen. I shook him softly as first while murmuring his name but when he didn't respond after many repeated attempts, I slapped him across the face. I didn't realize how hard I had hit him until Sam's eyes snapped open wide.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I needed to wake you up."

I placed the oxygen mask to his mouth carefully. He coughed a lot at first then began to breath eagerly. But then he quickly pulled the mask away from him as he puked across the sidewalk. I looked away, trying to let the situation be as least embarrassing as it could be. But he didn't look embarrassed. He put the mask back on and breathed greedily.

Sam sat up and looked around. I noticed his eyes lingered on Edilio's mean who were trying to catch hold of the fire hose that they had just connected with the fire hydrant. Then he stared at where the little girl was. His face was a mixture of emotions.

"Is she….?" Sam croaked.

I shook my head sadly. "I'm sorry, Sam," I said.

He nodded.

"Her parents probably left the stove on when they disappeared." I explained what I had been thinking had happened. "That's most likely what caused the fire. Or a cigarette."

Sam's eyes flickered with an odd emotion. It was almost disagree but I could tell he was hiding something.

Then I figured it out. The green and white light, bright and blinding. In the same room as Sam was at the time. Something had happened. But he wasn't going to say anything about it. And that's okay. The main thing now is that Sam is safe, fine, and very much alive.

But he'd have to share his secret sometime soon. I had a feeling.

* * *

_Another chapter up. I hope you enjoyed this one. It took forever to write last night. _

_Please, please, please, please, please…Review._

_Love, Hallie xx_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

I walked around the streets of Perdido Beach.

I'd been looking for my little brother for almost an hour now. I'd searched every street of the town. I even returned to my house again to check if Petey had returned there. But he was not anywhere in the town area so I eventually gave up on my search because the sun was coming down. I did not want to search in the dark alone. And so I returned to the plaza.

The plaza was full of kids. They ranged from second graders to kids my age. I noticed one thing they all had in common. They all looked scared. The park benches were all occupied by little families of kids. They were everywhere. Some looked as if they just felt stronger in a crowd and followed people around in little clumps of kids. Some had their sleeping bags set up under tables, some under trees, and some out in the open on the grass.

Orc and his friends were in the middle of the main intersection of Perdido Beach with lawn chairs. They looked at me as I walked quickly by them. I ignored their looks of mild interest. I walked quickly to where Sam was sitting with Quinn. He was talking to two young boys that I estimated to be in fifth grade by the looks of them. The boys and Sam shared a smile before the boys hurried off to their destination.

"I can't find him." I told Sam as I approached. "Petey's not here. Nobody has seen him."

His eyes showed sympathy as he passed me a can of soda. "Here. I paid for it. Tried to, anyway."

I looked at the soda with mild dislike. "I don't usually drink this stuff."

Quinn snapped, "You see any 'usually' around here?"

Quinn was looking away from me and I could tell something was wrong. He looked like some sort of restless bird with his eyes looking from person to person. I ignored his attitude because I blamed it on him being scared.

"Thanks, Sam," I hadn't had soda in a long time because I knew how bad it was for your body but this time I let it slide. I decided to tell them what I had overheard in the last hour. "Kids are saying it's some military thing gone wrong. Or else terrorists. Or aliens. Or God. Lots of theories. No answers."

"Do you even believe in God?" Quinn snapped at me.

"Yes, I do," I replied. "I just don't believe in the kind of god who disappears for no reason. God is supposed to be love. This doesn't look like love."

"It looks like the world's worst picnic," Sam said softly.

"I believe that's called gallows humor," I said, forgetting they probably did not know what that meant. I looked at them and noticed they were both looking at me with blank expressions. But while Quinn's face seemed to radiate annoyance, Sam's lips began to twist into a small smile with a mischievous look in his bright eyes. "Sorry. I have this annoying tendency to analyze what people say. You'll either get used to it or decide you can't stand me."

Quinn's eyes moved to the grass. He muttered, "I'm leaning towards the second choice."

Sam ignored his friend and said, "What's gallows humor?"

I smiled inwardly. It seemed he was actually interested in what I was saying. But then I wondered if he was just being polite. But I answered it enthusiastically anyway. "Gallows, as in, what they hand people from. Sometimes when people are nervous of afraid, they make jokes. "I looked at his bright eyes before adding, a little ruefully, "Of course, some people, when they're nervous of afraid, turn pedantic. And if you don't know what pedantic means, here's a clue: in the dictionary, I'm the illustration they use."

Sam laughed and I thought it was the best sounding laugh I'd ever heard. It had a sweet ring to it. But Quinn scowled at Sam as if it wasn't right to be laughing at the present time.

Then a little boy approached Sam. His big blue eyes looked at Sam as if he was the man in charge of everything. He was no more than five years of age and in his hands he clutched at an old toy teddy bear. "Do you know where my mom is?"

Sam said, "No, little man, I'm sorry," He shook his head sadly and put on an encouraging smile.

"Can you call them on the telephone?" His voice trembled and I could see the tears building up behind his lively eyes.

"The phones don't work," Sam said softly.

"Nothing works," Quinn snapped unhelpfully. "Nothing works and we're all alone here."

Sam's eyes flickered with a second of annoyance then returned to a comforting gaze. "You know what I bet? Sam asked the child. "I'll bet they have cookies at the day care. It's right across the street. See?" He pointed to where Barbara's Day Care stood.

The boy shook his head. "I'm not supposed to cross the street."

"It's okay." Sam whispered reassuringly. "I'll while you do, okay?"

The little boy stifled a sob as he walked away to the day care with his gray teddy bear held close to his chest.

I decided to tell Sam what had been on my mind recently. And this little boy only made the thought stronger. "Kids come to you Sam. They're looking for you to do something."

Anger flashed in Sam's bright eyes. "Do what? All I can do is suggest they eat a cookie," He said loudly.

"Save them, Sam," Quinn muttered darkly. "Save them all."

I once again ignored Quinn's comment and addressed Sam. "They're all scared, like us," I said "There's no one in charge, no one telling people what to do. They sense you're a leader, Sam. They look to you."

"I'm not a leader of anything. I'm just as scared as they are. I'm as lost as they are."

I pointed out the facts. "You knew what to do when the apartment was burning."

Sam's eyes flashed with something I could not recognize as he jumped gingerly to his feet. The people around us all looked at Sam, barely concealed excitement on their faces. They were waiting for him to do something. I noticed even Quinn was looking at Sam expectantly.

"Damn," Sam said softly under his breath as the small crowd stared at him. Then he raised his voice. "Look, all we have to do is hang tight. Someone is going to figure out what's happening and find us, okay? So everyone just chill, don't try to do anything crazy, help each other out and try to be brave."

People in the square began to repeat the words over and over. People smiled and looked at Sam in admiration. I smiled.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," I whispered as I was reminded of the words.

"What?" Sam asked.

"It's what President Roosevelt said when the whole country was scared because of the Great Depression," I explained to him.

"You know," Quinn said in an annoyed voice, "the only good thing about this was that I got away from history class. Now history class is following me."

Sam laughed again. I smiled inwardly at the sound. But then I remembered what I had to do. He was my responsibility. He needed me. He might not love me but I loved him and he didn't to be somewhere safe. Especially because of his powers.

"I need to find my brother," I said.

"Where else could he be?" Sam asked.

I shrugged, at loss of what to do. Petey could be anywhere. Then a sudden cold chill took me over. It was dark already and shivered, folding my arms around my chest. Sam gave me an odd look that I could not recognize as he noticed my lack of warmth. But I kept at business. "With my parents somewhere." I replied. "The most likely place is where my dad works or else where my mom plays tennis. Clifftop."

Sam's eyes widened in interest and there was a silence for a short time. Then I said, "I think Clifftop is more likely." I paused and the thought of going alone up to the resort hotel in the dark seemed horrifying. Who knows what could happen at dark when you're alive in a world like this? I knew Sam would be willing to come along with me but it was Quinn I was worried about. "I hate to ask, but will you guys go with me?"

"Now? Quinn looked at me as if I was crazy. "At night?"

Sam, like I had predicted, did not seem too disgusted by the idea and tried to convince Quinn to come along with us. After a minute of arguing, Sam was taking Quinn hand and pulling him to his feet. I smiled. Sam and Quinn were truly best friends.

We walked through the assembled crowd. Many kids would call out for Sam as ask him for advice on whether it was okay to do this and that. Some just wanted to know what was going on. Sam would reply and then the kids would either nod or laugh. They acted as if what he had told them meant something big to them. And I knew it did. I heard stories being told about Sam. They talked about when he saved that school bus from going off a cliff. I didn't ride that bus but I heard it was a huge deal at school the next day. And it only made my crush on Sam Temple intensify. I heard the kids telling the story of how he ran into a burning building to save a little girl. Over and over again they told of the heroic Sam Temple.

We walked into Orc's intersection. They had a pitiful bonfire going in the middle and they had a box of beer sitting beside it. His friends still sat in their lawn chairs and most of them were staring at the fire as if it was their life. They stared with big eyes. Then Howard noticed us. He stood up from his place in between Orc and the fire and glared at us.

"Hey. Where do you think you're going?"

"For a walk," Sam answered smoothly.

"Two dumb surfers and a genius?" Howard sneered.

There it was again. People kept calling me a genius. Just because I was a little bit smarter than the majority of the kids did not earn me to be Astrid the Genius. I moved closer to Sam's side and stared at Howard with dark eyes. But Sam seemed to agree.

"That's right. We're going to teach Astrid how to surf. You have a problem with that?"

Howard laughed at look Sam's body up and down. He looked at Sam from head to toe. Then his buggy eyes returned to Sam's face. "You think you're the man, don't you, Sam? School Bus Sam. Big deal. You don't impress me."

Sam smiled thinly. "That's a shame, because I live my entire life in hopes of impressing you."

I hid a smile. Sam was good at that. Quinn had been silent the entire time, leaving all the talking to Sam. He stood sort of away from us as he observed the argument. Sam looked at Howard as if he was a piece of garbage and narrowed his eyes.

Then Howard said, "You need to bring back something."

Sam raised his eyebrows and said, "What?"

"I don't want Orc's feeling to be hurt. I think that whatever you're going to get, you should bring him back some."

"Yeah," Orc grunted as Sam's eyes shot daggers at the bullies.

"So you're the big hero of something, huh?" Panda, a skinny kid who as holding a metal big scraped his bad against the pavement menacingly.

"You're wearing that line out," Sam said with a newly annoyed sound to his voice.

"No, no, not Sammy, he doesn't think he's better than us," Howard said. He made fun of what Sam did at the fire. He pointed and yelled orders. I wanted to scream in his face for him to shut up and stop insulting Sam but Sam stood still and silent. Then he spoke again.

"We're going to go now," Sam announced to the bullies.

"Ah, ah, ah," Howard said. "Wait until it turns green." He pointed at the stoplight located in the middle of the intersection.

I watched Sam. He had an annoyed look on his handsome face but I knew he wasn't going to start a fight. Now wasn't the time to have a fight. We needed to find Petey. And so finally the stoplight changed colors from red to green and we walked pass, Quinn hurrying behind us. We ignored Howard's taunting laugh and signaling. Now we had to find Petey.

_

* * *

_

Thanks for reviewing so far guys. I'm hoping to get some more reviewers in the future but thanks for the positive comments. Let me know how you feel about this chapter. Be honest but if you hated it, please don't say it sucks. I mean you can, but please explain why you hated it so I can improve my writing. Same with the good reviews. Tell me how to improve. I want to make this story as good as I can.

_And ah yes. The button. Click it._

_-Hallie xx_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

We walked in silence.

I observed the streets. They were deserted. It felt unusual. There were no headlights of cars driving down the street. I moved my eyes onto the pavement, listening to the sound of our footsteps against the black road. They clattered unusually loud against the silence of Perdido Beach.

"The surf sounds strange," Quinn commented, breaking our silence. I had not noticed that. But then again I was not a surfer.

"Flat," Sam said, agreeing with his best friend.

"Fo-flat, brah," Quinn continued. "Glassy. But there's a low-pressure front just out there. Supposed to be a long period swell. Sounds like a lake."

I cast a sideways glance at the surfers. I'd never taken much interest in the idea of riding waves for fun. To me it sounded dangerous. I noticed that Quinn called Sam by that nickname. It must be a surfer saying, I thought to myself.

"Weatherman isn't always right," Sam replied.

It seemed eerily dark. It was dinnertime in Southern California. Usually the kitchens would be lit up. The road always had the light from the people's houses reflected onto it. It was never this dark. When our family had driven through this road it had never felt this way. The streetlights were still on, giving us at least the sight to see where they were going. I found myself listening to the sound of our breathing. The air went in and out. You could hear the breathing a lot easier than normal in this silence. Then I bit my lip. I'd said normal. Nothing had been normal to me. At least, not since Petey had done it for the first time.

Suddenly a dog began to bark loudly. I jumped, surprised at the sound that had harshly broken the peaceful silence.

"Who's going to feed that dog?" Quinn said quietly.

I didn't reply because I had no answer. There would be so many animals that needed food and assistance. There would be young babies with no parents. There would be dogs, cats, hamsters, fish and so on. The fire in the plaza had already proved the attitude of the kids of Perdido Beach. They had all looked helpless and confused, not willing to do anything to help. They wanted everything done for them. They had not done anything immediately when Sam had ordered them to help. They didn't recognize the fact that there were no adults anymore to take care of us. We were on our own. And three people could not run an entire town all by themselves. We'd need to check for young children, feed animals, turn off gas, close refrigerators, turn off showers, and so much more. My eyes drifted to the sky, lost in thought.

I'd always had an interest in astronomy. The positions of the stars were something I almost knew by heart. Laying on the cold green grass of our backyard late at night as I gazed at the stars was something that had always calmed me. I looked for my favorite stars in the large sight before me. Everything was so out of place. But the stars were still there. I smiled. They were still normal looking. I decided to mention it to the boys if not just to break the silence.

"The stars are still there," I said softly. But my voice sounded surprisingly loud It rang a lot my noticeable than I had expected. I looked closer at the sky, the smile still on my face. Then the smile faded. I noticed something wasn't right. The stars were different. They were still there but they were higher than they usually were. "Wait. No. The stars are up, but not the ones just over the horizon. I think Venus should be just setting. It's not there."

We all stopped at the same time. The boys stared just above ocean. I watched them for a second or two before staring at the horizon.

"This sounds bizarre, but the horizon looks higher than it should be."

"Did anyone watch the sun go down" Sam asked, an air of concern in his voice.

It turned out that nobody had watched the sun go down. We were still standing there, looking at the horizon. I wondered what else would be out of place in this messed up world.

"Let's keep moving," Sam announced. "We should have bikes or skateboards."

"Why not a car?" Quinn suggested.

I bit my lip. A car? Why would Quinn suggest that? He'd just crash it. I was going to make a comment about it but Sam beat me to it.

"You know how to drive?" Sam asked with a almost annoyed tone. I could tell he already knew the answer to this question but was asking it anyway, proving his point to his friend.

"I've seen it done." Quinn replied.

"I've seen heart surgery done on TV, too," I said, finally decided to make myself known in this conversation. "That doesn't mean I'm going to try it."

"You watch heart surgery on TV? That explains a lot, Astrid." Quinn said, obviously annoyed.

We fell into silence once again, leaving each of us to our own thoughts. Quinn sighed softly, moving his eyes to his shoes as we walked. Sam seemed to be walking more ahead of Quinn, his friend trailing along behind him. I wondered if it had always looked like this. Sam the leader and Quinn his sidekick was what it looked like. I didn't ask them about it. We walked for a few more minutes before Clifftop Resort Hotel came into view.

It was our only hotel in the small town. It had a bright neon sign that was lit up between carefully trimmed hedges. The front entrance of the hotel was lit up as if it were Christmas. I thought of when they had just put those Christmas lights up, only a week ago. As we approached we looked at a car parked outside the resort, luggage already put on the trolley that had been put next to the car to carry the suitcases up to their room. We walked into the building and looked around. It looked normal except for the fact that there was nobody in the lobby. I'd always seen the usual old lady at the counter, waiting for people to approach her and ask for assistance. The bar was deserted also. A TV was on, fuzzy and nothing on it.

"I don't see anyone," Quinn whispered.

"No," Sam agreed quietly.

We walked with a slow place, listening to the sound of our footsteps as we searched for somebody to be there. I'd long since given up on finding any adults but for some reason there was a hope inside of me.

"The tennis court is this way," I said and I lead them away from the lobby and down to where my mother played tennis. "That's where my mom and Little Pete would have been."

We walked down the hallway towards the tennis courts. Sam moved to walk closer to me and I gave him a slight smile. He smiled hesitantly back as Quinn frowned. The walk was not far. I looked around, observing the carpeted walkways closely. I opened the door to where the tennis courts were quickly, hoping to find my little brother waiting for me. We walked inside the silent court, looking around. The lights were still on and the court was lit up bright.

Then I saw it.

We had all seen it at the same time. It cut straight across the farthest tennis court from the door. It seemed to go straight through the wall on the other side of the tennis area. It was a wall. I stared at it, stopping were I was walking. The boys stopped too. It seemed to shimmer slightly. I could not take my eyes off the strange wall. It looked really thin, not even a millimeter thick. I stared, horrified. I moved my eyes up the wall. It went up into the sky, never seeming to stop. You could still see the stars through it but they looked odd.

It reminded me horribly of Petey. Petey had been acting oddly lately. This was similar. I looked at the boys. Quinn was staring, an unreadable expression on his face as his mouth gaped open. His eyes were wide as he took in the sight before him. But it wasn't Quinn's reaction that caught my interest. It was Sam's.

Sam's eyes were wide. He stared at the wall, breathing in and out quickly. I noticed the sudden fear in his bright eyes. I wondered if he was thinking about his powers right now.

"What is it?" Quinn said and I realized with surprise that there was a layer of heavy awe in his tone of voice.

I shook my head, speechless. But Quinn wasn't satisfied with my silence.

"What is it?" He repeated.

I didn't reply. We approached the wall with slow and cautious steps, ready for something sudden to happen. We walked down the tennis court, our eyes wide. Sam walked behind me. We walked up to the net where the wall was going through. Sam moved ahead of us and pulled gently on the net. It stayed determinedly in it's spot. He frowned, pulling on the net harder and harder.

"Careful," I whispered. I didn't want him to get hurt.

Quinn said, "She's right, brah, careful."

Sam walked closer to the barrier. He was just a few feet away when he moved his hand out. I wanted to tell him not to. I wanted to protect the boy. I cared about him already even though I'd only really just met him a few hours ago. But I saw it in his eyes. He did not want to just touch it. He dropped his hand and picked up a tennis ball that was on the ground near him. He tossed it toward the wall. It bounced back at him. I watched as he caught the ball and looked at it closely. Sam seemed to think nothing horrible happened to the ball. He dropped it and moved his fingertips to the shimmering wall. I held my breath.

"Aaah." Sam moaned in pain as he moved his fingers away from the wall as fast as he could.

"What?' Quinn yelled, fear clearly evident in his voice.

I let the air out that I had been holding and walked closer to Sam, looking at his face then his hand.

"It burned. Oh, man. That hurt." Sam shook his head, his face showing the pain he was going through.

"Let me look at it," I said.

He extended his hand. "It feels okay now."

I took his hand in mine, trying to ignore the thrill going through my body because of the contact. I turned his hand over as I searched for a burn mark. I frowned, biting my lip.

"I don't see any burn mark," I said.

Sam shook his head, his brown hair flapping before his bright eyes. "No, but trust me, you don't want to touch that thing."

Quinn picked up a wrought-iron chair that had been sitting about twenty feet away. He lifted it high and held it in front of him and slammed it into the barrier. Sam and I watched with interest.

But the barrier did not give way.

Quinn was screaming, yelling curse words, and slamming the chair hard against the wall repeatedly. I stared at him with wide eyes.

I dropped Sam's hand and he moved to Quinn but then moved back, noticing that he should not get close. If he did get too close he'd get him hurt. Sam placed a hand on my arm, looking me in the eyes.

"Let him get it out." Sam whispered. I nodded.

Sam knew Quinn more than anybody and if he thinks Quinn should have some private time for himself then I was not going to argue. We watched, somewhat awkwardly as Quinn hit the wall again and again. It did not leave a mark.

Quinn dropped the chair a while later, sat down, put his head in his hands, and howled loudly. I sighed. This day was going horribly.

* * *

_Sorry for the short chapter. I'm merely going along with the chapters in the book that concern Astrid. _

_I'm also wondering if I should rename my story to: GONE: Astrid's Version, seeing as I plan to write a version of Hunger also. Tell me if you think it's a bad idea. _

_And yes, review._

_-Hallie xx_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

We searched for Petey for hours.

I had found a way to hack into the hotel security system and find a key that allowed us to access all of the doors. My heart had lifted when Sam smiled broadly as I showed him the key. I loved his smile. But we had been searching all night and we still had not found Petey. Eventually, we searched every room at Clifftop and Petey was not seen. This was our last room.

I looked around it, desperate for my little brother. The boys were staring at a TV. Half of the TV was on behind the wall and the other half was on our side. The shimmering wall went right through the middle of our room.

"It cuts right through the TV," Quinn announced as he picked up the remote from a wooden table and pushed the small red button that turned on the TV on. No television shows came on. It was nothing. I bit my tongue, thinking.

"I'd love to know what it looks like on the other side of the barrier. Did someone's half of the TV just turn on over there?" I said, voicing my thoughts.

"If so, maybe they could tell me if the Lakers won," Quinn attempted at a joke. The joke did not work. None of us felt good enough to be laughing at the moment.

"Your brother is probably safely on the other side, Astrid," Sam said softly, trying to comfort me. He paused and then added more. "With your mom, probably."

Anger burned inside of me as if someone had lit a flame. At that moment I hated Sam's comment. I glared at him as I snapped my reply. "I don't know that. I have to assume that he's all alone and helpless and that I'm the only one who can do anything to help him." I crossed my arms over my chest and hugged myself as I realized what I had just said and who I had spoken it to. The anger fell away immediately. "I'm sorry." I apologized. "That sounded like I was mad at you."

Sam shook his head, disagreeing. "No. You just sounded like your mad. Not at me. We can't do anymore tonight. I think we should go back to that big room we saw."

I nodded, still feeling slightly guilty for my outburst. I followed Sam out of the room. Quinn sighed loudly as he fought to keep his eyes open beside me. I wondered briefly if he would fall asleep on the short walk to the upper floor. It turned out he made it all the way to the suite awake.

We walked into the suite quickly. The same King size bed in the other room was still there, decorated elegantly. The room to the left had two Queen size beds. They looked really comfortable.

"Boys room," Quinn said with exhaustion really evident in his voice as he lay down on the closest Queen size bed. We stood and looked at him as he fell asleep in less than a minute.

Sam and I moved toward the balcony at the same time. Sam took the Tolberone bar out from the fridge and ripped it into half's. We shared the chocolate, staring outside the hotel grounds. I placed my arms on the cemented balcony and sighed. I thought about what had happened today. I wondered what was going on with the barrier thing. I had my theories. Yesterday I would not have thought it to be possible but for some reason this new occurrence had happened.

"What do you think this is?" Sam broke the silence.

"Sometimes I think it's a dream." I explained as I nibbled on the end of my chocolate. "It's so strange that no one has shown up. I mean, this place should be crawling with soldiers and scientists and reporters. Suddenly a wall appears out of nowhere and most of the people in town disappear and yet there aren't any network satellite trucks?" I paused, looking at my new friend. His face had an unreadable expression on it. I decided to continue.

"I don't think it's just a straight wall cutting us off from the south, you know? I think it may be a circle. We may be cut off in every direction. In fact, since no one has come to rescue is, I think that's probably pretty likely. Don't you?"

It felt good to tell him my thoughts. He seemed to agree because he inclined his head ever so slightly.

"Yeah. We're in a trap. But, why? And why disappear everyone over the age of fourteen?"

"I don't know." It felt unusual to say those words but I felt I had to be honest to Sam.

There was silence after that. I finished the last of my chocolate and bit my lip, trying to up a solution to the mystery.

"What happens when kids turn fifteen?" Sam asked me quietly, a strange sound in his voice.

I turned quickly towards him, my blue eyes gazing into his. "When is your birthday, Sam?"

"November Twenty-Second." Sam said with his eyes glazed over. "Just five days before Thanksgiving. Twelve days from now." He looked down at the balcony as he amended his statement. "No, just eleven days now, since it's after midnight You?'

His voice sounded strangely calm for admitting he might disappear in eleven days.

"No till March." I replied softly.

"I like March better. Or July, or August. First time I ever wished I was younger." Sam replied with a slight smile.

I felt a rush of sympathy for my new friend. I wanted him not to be fearful. It wasn't his fault. I looked at his face, scanning him for fear. I could not see any.

"You think they're still alive somewhere?" Sam asked his eyes on the stars.

"Yes." I answered truthfully.

His eyes seemed to became somewhat calmer. "You think that because you really mean it or because you just want them to be alive?"

I smiled. "Yes," I answered and then I paused. "Sam?"

"Yeah." He replied.

"I was on the school bus that day, remember?" I wanted to change the subject to something tamer.

"Vaguely," Sam laughed. "My fifteen minutes of fame."

I closed my eyes, remembering. "You were the bravest, coolest person I'd ever known. Everyone thought so. And then, I don't know. It was like you kind of just…faded." I saw the slight frown and wondered if I had said something offensive.

"Well most days the bus driver doesn't have a heart attack," Sam said, almost sounding as if he was defending himself.

I laughed as I thought. Then I voiced what I had been thinking about him all day. "You're one of those people, I think. Yu go along in your life just sort of living. And then something goes wrong and there you are. You step up and do what you have to do. Like today, the fire."

Sam said, "Yeah, well to tell you the truth I kind of prefer the other part. The part where I just live my life."

I looked at him, staring at his good-looking face. He was biting his lip, still looking at the stars above us. I understood his reasoning but he really didn't understand how much of a natural leader he was. Everyone seemed to follow him no matter what. He had a face of authority and a voice to go along with it. I continued. "That's not going to happen this time."

Sam hung his head, his brown hair covering his bright eyes. "Look, don't expect too much from me, okay?"

"Okay, Sam." I said, not really meaning it. "Tomorrow we're going to figure this all out."

He nodded. "And find your brother."

"And find my brother." I repeated.

I turned away, walking back into the suite. As I walked away I glanced back at him. He sighed, looking at his hands. I stopped at watched, concern growing. He was probably blaming himself for what had happened. I wanted to tell him it was not his fault but I did not want him to know that I knew. Sam spread his hands out in front of himself, seeming to stare at him. I sighed, knowing he was thinking about his powers. I left, walking to the room with the King size bed. When I walked by Quinn's room I could hear the boy snoring softly, obviously deep in sleep. I stopped at the room with the King size bed in it, getting into it after only taking my shoes off.

I didn't fall asleep immediately, like Quinn did. I stayed up, thinking desperately for a solution to the problem. I thought of my little brother Petey. He was all alone somewhere with nobody to help him. I needed to find my brother as soon as I could.

It was a while before I heard Sam's soft footsteps walking in from the balcony.

* * *

_I hate tiny chapters. I'm always excited for a nice, long read. But this was tiny. I apologize. I have no control over how long the chapters are._

_Yes, I changed the name to GONE: Astrid's Version. I hope it does not throw you guys off at all._

_And tell me what you think of my writing. I enjoy reviews. _

_-Hallie xx_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

I woke early in the morning.

At first I wondered where I was. Then it all came to me. I was in a hotel room and not at home. Yesterday all of the adults had disappeared. I still needed to find Petey.

I sighed as I pulled the covers off of me and got up out of the bed. I wandered into the main room of the suite, intent on looking out the window. I needed some fresh air. I moved the curtains out of the way and looked outside. We were on the third floor of the resort and the water was bright on my eyes. I looked higher up and saw it. The barrier was clearly visible, shimmering in the sunlight. The barrier was out in the sea now, creating a large curved barrier around the waters. It looked to rise out of the sea. I took a deep breath and turned away. I needed to tell Sam and Quinn. Then I saw him.

It was Sam. I had thought he had gone into the bedroom to sleep. But here he was, lying across the leather couch. I could not stop looking at him. He looked oddly at peace in his sleep. He was not the hero from the plaza like he was yesterday. He was a teenager again. Sam's eyes were closed as he slept on his stomach with his right arm dangling loosely off the edge of the couch. But slowly his eyes began to open as if he sensed somebody was looking at him. I didn't look away. His bright eyes widened as he noticed me and he gave a nervous smile, seeming embarrassed. He quickly wiped his mouth on his pillow.

"Sorry, sleep drool." Sam mumbled.

"I didn't mean to wake you up, but look at this." I said softly, gesturing out the window.

Sam rose from his place on the couch and looked closely out at the barrier. "How high is it?" Sam said, speaking his questions out loud.

I moved my eyes from Sam and looked out at the barrier, thinking quickly. "I should be able to calculate it. You measure from the base of the wall to a point, then you figure the angle." I realized I was starting into a rant and stopped speaking, slightly embarrassed. "Never mind. It has to be at least a couple hundred feet high and nowhere near the top. If there is a top."

"What do you mean if there's a top?" Sam said.

"I'm not sure. Don't take anything too seriously: I'm just thinking out loud." I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

"So think out loud enough for me to hear,"

I shrugged, a smile playing at the edges of my lips because of his comment. "Okay. There may not be a top. It may not be a wall, it may be a dome."

"But I see the sky," Sam argued with me. He was clearly confused. "I see clouds. They're moving."

"Right." I looked out at the barrier, explaining my point to the confused surfer boy. "Well imagine this: You're holding a piece of black glass in your hand. Like a big, really dark sunglasses. You tilt it one way, it's opaque. You tilt it another way, it's reflective. You squint real hard straight into it and you almost think you can see some light coming through. It all depends on the angle and the-"

"You hear that?" I looked around quickly, noticing Quinn had appeared. He must have come up while I was giving my lesson.

Sam and I listened closely. It sounded like some sort of engine. It came from not too far away.

"An engine. Not far away, either." Sam said.

I felt hope suddenly. We exchanged a glance before running out of the room, down the stairs, into the lobby, and out the front doors. We ran outside and into the green grass land of outside the hotel. We ran back to the tennis courts.

"It's Edilio. The new kid," Sam announced.

It was Edilio Escobar. He was seated inside the open cage of a backhoe. We stopped and watched him. Edilio moved the yellow backhoe toward the barrier and lowered the shovel slowly. It returned with a shovelful of fresh dirt.

"He's trying to dig his way out," Quinn spoke what Sam and I had already realized.

Quinn ran up to where Edilio was with the backhoe and jumped onto it, landing beside Edilio. Edilio jumped but grinned at the impulsive boy. He killed the engine.

"Hey, guys. I guess you kinda noticed this, huh?" He pointed to the barrier. "By the way don't touch it."

I looked at Sam as he nodded. "Yeah. We figured that out."

Edilio was a medium sized kid. He had dark eyes and a charmingly friendly face. He had rough hands and a healthy looking body.

Edilio dug three more scoops of dirt. After that he hopped down off of the backhoe and picked up a shovel. He started digging at the last inches of dirt between the hole and the barrier. We looked closely. The shimmering barrier continued to go on underground.

Sam and Quinn grabbed shovels and began to dig along with Edilio. I stood behind them. I wanted to do something to help but I knew I could not. They dug for a long time but they could not find the bottom of the barrier. The boys seemed to get tired after a while. After about five minutes two of the boys seemed to give up. They exchanged a glance, seeming to agree to stop and helped each other out climb out of the hole they had been digging. But Sam kept digging and the two boys watched him. I smiled.

"Maybe a jackhammer. Or at least some picks to break it up down there." Sam said, still digging at the hole. He didn't seem to notice he was the only one still trying. Sam looked around after the two boys did not reply and seemed to notice he was the only one.

"Yeah, maybe," Edilio replied after a moment of the Sam staring at the two boys and them staring back. He bent down to the hole and offered his hand, helping Sam out. Sam tossed the shovel aside and wiped some of the dirt from his jeans.

"It was a good idea, Edilio." Sam said.

"Like what you did at the fire, man," Edilio said, obviously impressed. "You saved the hardware and the day care."

Sam looked at the ground with a expression of distaste. "Wouldn't have saved anything, including my own butt, without you Edilio." He paused. "And Quinn and Astrid," he added afterward.

"So why are you here?" Quinn asked Edilio rudely.

Edilio sighed loudly, propped his shovel against the barrier. It held there. He used his right hand to wipe sweat from his brow and looked around the resort. "My mom works here," Edilio replied finally.

"Is she like, the manager?" Quinn smirked. I grimaced inwardly. Quinn seemed to be in a very rude mood lately.

"She's in housekeeping," Edilio replied.

"Yeah? Where do you live?"

Edilio, still seeming calm, pointed across the barrier. "Over there. About two miles down the highway. We have a trailer. My dad, my two little brothers. They have a bug, so my mom kept them home. Alvaro, my big brother, he's in Afghanistan." I sensed the pride in his voice and smiled.

"He's in the army?" Quinn asked.

Edilio grinned. "Special forces." His eyes glowed bright. "The elite."

"This is stupid when you think about it. People on the other side of the barrier, they know what's happened," Quinn said. "I mean, it's not like they haven't noticed that we're behind this wall all of the sudden."

Sam finally joined the conversation, moving slightly closer to the boys. "So?"

"So they have better equipment and stuff than we do, right? They can dig a lot deeper, get under the barrier. Or go around it. Or fly over it. This is a waste of time here."

I didn't really agree. We needed to know more about the barrier before we started talking like that. "We don't know how far down or high up the barrier extends," I said, trying to explain my thoughts to the three boys. "It looks like it stops a couple hundred feet up, but maybe that's an optical illusion."

"Over, under, around, or through," Edilio said in a determined voice. "There has got to be a way."

"Kind of like when your folks came over the border from Mexico, huh?" Quinn snapped. I was shocked. I stared at Quinn. That was out of line, I thought. All Edilio was trying to do is help.

Edilio seemed to tower over Quinn as his dark eyes grew cold. "Honduras is where my folks are from. They had some all the way through Mexico before they reached the border. Mt mom works as a maid. My father is a farmhand. We live in a trailer and drive an old beater. I still have a little accent because I learned Spanish before I learned English. Anything else you need to know, man?"

Quinn looked surprised. "I wasn't trying to start anything, amigo."

"That's good," Edilio said darkly. Quinn took a step back, looking suddenly frightened.

"We have to go," Sam said suddenly. He looked at Edilio's surprised face and explained. "We're looking for Astrid's little brother. He's…he needs someone to look after him. Astrid thinks he may be up at the power plant."

"My father's an engineer there," I explained further because Edilio still looked confused. "But it's about ten miles from here."

I looked at Sam. We needed help to find Petey, I knew. Edilio would be a good help. He looked strong and determined. She knew Sam would not want to invite Edilio on his own even though he seemed to act as the leader of their little group. I decided to ask instead of him, trying to make him stop with his inner struggles.

"Edilio? Would you like to come with us?" I asked.

Sam looked up at her, his eyes slightly angered. I rolled my eyes at him, smiling slightly. "I thought I would cut to the chase and avoid more male posturing." I explained.

"I wasn't posturing," Sam grumbled darkly. I looked away so I could smile.

"How are you going to travel?" Edilio asked, clearly interested.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "I don't think we should try to drive a car, it that's what you mean,"

"I maybe got something. Not a car, but better than walking ten miles." Edilio announced.

Sam looked interested. I followed behind Edilio as he led us to a garage door that was hidden around the back of the pool changing room. Edilio raised the garage door and we saw two gold carts with the logo of Clifftop Resort on them. "The groundskeepers and the security guys use them to get around and go over to the gold course on the other side of the highway."

Sam looked hesitant. "Have you ever driven one before?"

"Yeah. My dad picks up a shift sometimes at the course. Groundskeeping. I go with him, help him out." Edilio replied.

"Okay," Quinn said slowly. "You drive."

"We can try the direct road to the highway. It's the first right." Sam suggested.

I realized immediately why Sam had suggested that route. "You're avoiding downtown," I said. "You don't want kids coming up to you, asking you what they should do."

"You want to get to PBNP?" Sam asked. "Or do you want to watch me stand around telling people they have nothing to fear but fear itself?"

I laughed at his comment. I noticed his bright eyes seemed to glow for a moment. I wondered why.

"You remember," I said fondly.

"Yeah. I remember. Roosevelt. The Great Depression. Sometimes, if I really strain my brain, I can do multiplication." Sam replied with a teasing voice.

"Defensive humor," I said, reminded of my learnings.

Sam raised his eyebrows. We got into one of the golf carts. Edilio took the wheel and drove carefully. I sat next to Sam, squished in the back. It turned out that the road we were trying to take went straight into the barrier.

"It's like a _Road Runner_ cartoon," Quinn said. "If you paint a tunnel onto it, we can go through, but Wile E. Coyote will smash into it."

"Okay. Back down to the cliff road then, but cut through the back streets to the highway-don't go anyway near the plaza." Sam said. "We need to find Little Pete already. I don't want to have to stop and talk to a bunch of kids."

"Yeah, plus we don't want anyone stealing the cart," Edilio added.

I wasn't listening to their conversation anymore. As we drove I could see something white by the roadside. It was a seagull, I could tell from where I was sitting. But it didn't look right.

"Stop," I yelled, and we jerked to a quick stop.

I leaped from my seat and ran back to where the seagull lay. I picked up a twig and examined it.

"It's a seagull," Sam said, obviously baffled by my response. "Maybe it bashed into the barrier, huh?"

"Maybe. But look at this." I poked the bird's foot with the twig and lifted the body upwards.

"Yeah?"

"It's webbed, of course. Like it should be. But look at the way the toes extend out. Look at the nails. They're talons. Like a bird of prey. Like a hawk or an eagle." I explained, still looking closely at the unusual bird.

"You sure it's a regular seagull?" Sam asked.

"I like birds," I said. "This is not normal. Seagulls don't need talons. So they don't have talons."

Quinn did not seem to care. "So it's a bird freak. Can we move on now?"

I stood up and gave him a cold look. "It's not normal."

Quinn laughed. "Astrid, we're not even in the same time zone as normal. This is what you're worrying about? Bird toes?"

I ignored his rude comment. "The bird is either a solitary freak, a random mutation," I explained. "or it's a whole new species that suddenly appeared. Evolved."

"Again I have to go with 'so what?'" Quinn said.

I wanted to tell him to get the picture. He did not seem to understand anything like Sam and Edilio did. He did not seem to understand the importance of finding this. But I shook my head, convincing myself to stay calm. "Never mind, Quinn. Like you said, we're a long way from normal."

I got back in the golf cart with the boys and we drove down the street again. We looked around the town as we drove at a slow pace. There were cars everywhere but every one of them was either parked in a parking spot of crashed. We saw the occasional kid crossing the street with their friends. Some of them looked at ease, excited about the adults suddenly disappearing. But I could not help but notice the ones with scared looks on their young faces. We heard a TV in one of the houses we drove by and listened closely, thinking it over. But we determined that it was just a DVD being played.

"At least electricity is still on," Quinn said encouragingly. "They haven't taken away our DVDs. MP3s still work, too, even without web access. We'll still have the tunes."

"They," I said, noticing his change of wording. "We've moved from 'God' to 'they'?"

We had reached the beginning of the highway and pulled the golf cart to a stop.

"Well. That's creepy." Quinn said.

I stared ahead. In front of us was the biggest car accident I'd ever seen. A huge and brown UPS tractor-trailer had broken free and was now on its side. The truck part of the trailer was still upright, but it had moved to the other side of the road. A small yellow convertible had ran headlong into the wall and was now crumbled to half of the usual size. It looked as if it had burned up.

"The drivers poofed, car driver and truck driver," Quinn explained quietly.

"At least no one got hurt," Edilio pointed out the positive side.

"Unless there was a kid in the car," I pointed out, trying to not think about what would have happened if there was really one.

We sat and stared at the highway once again in silence. I looked at the cars once again. They were all over the road. There was no way that any child would have survived if they were in the car during that accident.

It seemed to have an odd feeling around here. There was no traffic now but there was always traffic here. This highway was the main highway filled with four lanes of cars always full. But now there was nobody here. There were no cars and trucks. There was no faint honking and the sounds of people playing their stereo too loud. There was nothing but the sound of our breathing. Then the sound of Edilio shaky laugh filled the silence.

"I'm still expecting some big old truck to come barreling down on us, run us over." Edilio said.

"It would be almost a relief," Quinn muttered, his eyes on the burned car once again.

Edilio pushed the petal once again and we moved slowly onto the highway. It felt unusual. We were driving so slow on a highway that we only drove at sixty miles per hour at usual times. I leaned closer to Sam, staring outside at the surroundings. We drove slowly past an old muffler shop that was on the right side of the highway. And we drove by the Jiffy Lube, and past a squat office. In many of the places cars from the highway had crashed into cars parked in the parking lot and into the buildings or walls. There was a red convertible that was all the way down the road to the dry cleaners. It had driven straight through the window of the cleaners, clothing in the usual cleaner's plastic wrap lying across the shiny red hood. I sighed silently, looking out at the surrounding hills. But after some we approached a Chevron station. I noticed a small amount of movement in the station and looked closer.

"What do you guys think?" Sam asked.

"Maybe they have food. It's a mini-mart, right?" Quinn said. "I'm hungry."

I shook my head slightly. "We should keep going."

"Edilio?" Sam said pressingly.

He shrugged. "I don't want to be paranoid. But, man, who knows?"

Sam's eyes were guarded. "I guess I vote for keeping going."

Edilio nodded, easing the golf cart to the left side of the huge road.

"If there are kids there, we smile and wave and saw we're in a hurry," Sam said, looking nervously at the Chevron station.

"Yes, sir," Quinn said in an annoyed tone of voice.

"Don't pull that, brah. We took a vote," Sam looked at Quinn.

"Yeah. Right."

As we moved closer by the station if became clear that there was people inside the Chevron station. When we came closer Cookie came into view, another kid I did not recognize following in the rear.

"T'sup, Cookie," Sam called out as the golf cart came closer to the station.

"T'sup, Sam?" was Cookie's reply.

"Look for Astrid's little brother, man." Sam said, leaning slightly toward them.

"Hold up," Cookie said. He felt a metal baseball bat close to him in his hands. It gleamed in the sun. The kid next to him helf a croquet mallet with green stripes across it.

"Nah, man, we're on a mission, we'll catch you later," Sam said as he waved. Edilio kept his foot on the petal and we kept driving slowly along the road.

"Stop them," Howard's voice came from behind us at the Chevron station. Howard was running behind us and Orc was trailing behind. Cookie stepped in front of the golf cart, trying to stop us.

"Don't stop," Sam hissed at Edilio, his eyes on Cookie.

"Man, look out," Edilio warned Cookie.

Cookie jumped out of the way at the last second before he would have been hit by the golf cart. The kid that I did not know swung his mallet hard and it hit the steel pole that supported the cart's awning. It nearly missed hitting Quinn's face as it snapped off.

"Hey, you almost knocked my head in, jerkward!" Quinn accused when we were passed them.

Orc yelled, "Catch them, you morons." We were about thirty feet away from them, driving on down the highway.

The kid that I did not know held the mallet close to his chest as he sprinted off after us. Orc and Howard followed behind.

"You better stop," the kid with the mallet warned as he ran alongside us.

"I don't think so," Sam shook his head, his eyes determined.

"Dude, I'll stab you with this stick," the mallet boy threatened Sam and he made a weak stab with the mallet. Sam caught the mallet and twisted it out of his hands. The mallet boy tripped and fell to the ground. Sam tossed the stick aside.

I watched as Howard came into range, his skinny arms windmilling. He ran and threw a glance behind him, finally noticing that Orc was not going to be able to catch up with us.

"Howard, what do you think you're doing, man?" Quinn asked in an oddly reasonable voice. "You're like a dog chasing a truck. What are you going to do if you catch us?"

Howard slowed down, panting as he got the point.

"It's a low-speed chase, man. Maybe we'll be on the news." Edilio said, trying for some humor.

We all laughed nervously. We continued down the road. I looked around, still slightly on edge. Sam's eyes were aware of everything that we drove by. He looked at the cars but his eyes seemed distant, once again.

But after about five minutes of silence I saw it. It was a truck, a huge one. And it was coming straight behind us. It was coming at a fast speed and I was already sure who was in it. There was no way we could outrun a truck like that. "There's a truck coming up fast," I said. "We need to pull over."

"They won't run us down," Quinn said. "Even Orc's not that crazy."

"They may or may not run is down," I said. "but that's a fourteen-year-old driving a Hummer. You really want to be on the road?"

Quinn nodded. "We're in for a pounding."

I could not help but agree.

* * *

_I'm sorry about the late update. I have been on vacation in Las Vegas. But I'm back now. Please, oh please, leave a review. They keep me going._

_Please leave any suggestions or ideas in the reviews. _

_And a reminder- School is starting on September Ninth. With that being I will be very busy with homework. I'm in High School now so I actually have to do my homework for a change. Please bear that in mind but I will hopefully do a chapter a week at least. I'm aiming for this story to be done in February, maybe? Could be sooner. I have no idea. _

_-Hallie xx_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

The Hummer raced toward us, moving in an unsteady manner.

I watched in despair as the Hummer closed the distance between us steadily. I could sense no way that we would be able to outrun the thing.

"Keep going or pull off?" Edilio asked nervously. His dark eyes moved from Sam to the road in front of him rapidly.

"They're going to kick our butts now," Quinn informed us. "We should have just stopped. I told you we should have just stopped, but no."

I sighed, looking once again at the giant car behind us. It was moving faster and faster. They still moved back and forth across the road.

"They're going to hit us," I yelled.

I saw a dark flash out of the corner of my eye and turned to look. Quinn was running away from our cart quickly, seeking retreat. I shook my head and looked back to the Hummer again. The Hummer slowed to a stop. Cookie and the boy with the mallet jumped out of the Hummer and began to run in pursuit of Quinn.

"Pull over," Sam ordered. Edilio slowed the cart to a stop on the side of the road and soon Sam was running to Quinn.

Quinn attempted to leap the ditch on the side of the road but landed awkwardly. He fell on his knees and the two boys were next to him before he could get back up. Cookie began to hit Quinn on the back with his fist while the other boy stood next to them.

Sam leaped at Cookie, grabbing him in the crook of his right arm and yanking him forward. Cookie fell to ground on his stomach, dropping his bat. Quinn moved away from both of them as Sam got hold of the bat.

I closed my eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. I'd always hated violence. Violence had not point because hurting one another simply caused more damage. It hurt to see the boys I went to school with every day attacking one another so hungrily.

Edilio and Quinn fought with the Mallet boy in violent and quick movements. The Mallet kid fell to the ground with a soft thump.

I moved my hair around my fingers, sitting up in the cart. I had to put a stop this hostility and soon. But suddenly to my right there were footsteps. Orc and Howard had gotten out of the truck and were now running speedily to join the others.

Orc swung the bat that he had and hit Edilio in the back of the knees. Edilio's dark eyes widened before he fell to the ground before him, the picture of defeat.

That was it. There would be no more of this. I sucked in an angry breath and jumped out of the cart, beginning to walk purposely toward the boys.

"I don't want to fight you," I heard Sam announce.

"I know you don't want to fight me," Orc said with an arrogant tone of voice. "Nobody wants to fight me."

"All of you stop it," I yelled. I balled my fists and glared at them through teary eyes. "We don't need this crap."

Howard moved in front of Orc, covering his master from view. He looked at me with confidence in his eyes and a small smile on his lips. "Step off, Astrid, my man Orc has to teach this punk a lesson."

I seethed. "Step off? You don't tell me to step off you…you invertebrate."

"Astrid, stay out of this, I got this," Sam said. He looked at me with concern as he held the bat firmly in his beach-tanned hands. Edilio stood unsteadily next to him.

"Hey. Let Astrid talk." Orc grunted.

I glanced at him before turning back to my boys. I took a deep breath, going in and then out. I fought for control as a glared at them all. "We're not looking for a fight."

"Speak for yourself," Cookie muttered as he moved to stand next to the Mallet boy, who had just gotten up from the ground.

"This is crazy," I hissed. "We're just looking for my brother."

Orc narrowed his eyes at my words. "The retard?"

I almost lost control again. "He's autistic," I snapped at him harshly.

"Yeah. Little Pe-tard," Orc sneered at me with narrowed eyes.

"You should have stopped, Sammy." Howard announced, making a tsking sound while shaking his head.

Quinn's eyes flashed as he turned a glare onto Sam. "That's what I said, and I'm the one who ends up getting pounded?"

"You should have listened to your bro there, Sam. I told you last night you need to take care of my man Orc." Howard looked amused.

I turned to him to demand answers."Take care of him? What does that mean?"

Howard's dark eyes met mine unflinchingly. "You have to show Captain Orc some respect, that's what I mean."

Sam was obviously fighting the urge to laugh. "Captain?" he managed out.

Howard moved a step closer to us, radiating confidence. "Yeah. Captain. Someone had to step up and take charge, right? You were busy, I guess, maybe surfing or whatever, so Captain Orc volunteered to be in charge."

"In charge of what?" Quinn raised an eyebrow.

Howard smiled slightly. "Stopping everybody running crazy, that's what."

"Yeah," Orc rumbled, finally coming back to the conversation.

"Kids were busting everything up, taking anything they wanted," Howard droned on, looking happy with himself.

Orc repeated the same thing. "Yeah."

"And all those booger-eaters, all those little kids running around, no one to even stop them crying or change their diapers. Orc made sure they were taken care of." Howard smiled even larger, showing yellow-white teeth. "He comforted them. Or at least made sure someone did."

"That's right," Orc said, looking as though the words surprised him in a way.

"No one else wanted to get things under control, so Orc did," Howard explained, looking at Sam in a pompous way. "And so he is the Captain now, until the adults come back."

Orc looked triumphant. "Only they ain't coming back."

"That's totally right," Howard agreed. "What the Captain said."

I closed my eyes briefly, and then looked at the group of boys assembled around me. Sam's face was concerned, almost like he was thinking through a problem. Quinn was looking from Orc to Sam, then back to Orc repeatedly. Edilio was looking at Orc with distaste. Cookie and the mallet boy were standing off to the side, listening intently. Howard was smiling. Orc looked out of it.

I thought over the problem myself. The idea of Orc being the leader of everyone was a terrible one. He simply did not have the talent. He didn't have a quick-thinking mind. He wasn't brave and ready to help if needed. Orc could not comfort young children when they needed someone to be there. I knew somebody who could. He was standing right next to me, his impressive eyes pointed at the ground.

"We just want to go look for Little Pete," Sam said after a long moment of silence.

"Yeah? If you're looking for something, it's best if you go kind of slow," Howard said, smirking.

I narrowed my eyes as I realized what he meant. Sam had understood the wording also. "You want the golf cart."

"That's what I'm talking about, Sammy," Howard nodded slightly, spreading his hands wide before him.

"It's like, people pay taxes, right?" Mallet boy chimed in.

"Exactly," Howard nodded, agreeing with him. "It's a tax."

Anger flared within me as I looked at Mallet boy, standing next us with a knowing smile. "Who are you, anyway?" I demanded of him, my eyes burning into his. "I've never seen you at school."

"I go to Coates Academy," Mallet boy explained.

Sam said, "My mom's the night nurse up there."

"Not anymore," Mallet boy replied.

I wasn't satisfied with Mallet's answer from before. "Why are you down here?"

Mallet's eyes suddenly clouded with a hardly concealed fear. "I didn't get along with the kids up there."

"Are there any adults up there?" Sam's voice held a note of hope in them, his bright eyes shining slightly.

"Aw," Howard said in a teasing tone of voice. "Sammy wants his mommy."

"Take the golf cart," Sam's voice had suddenly gone cold, his eyes showing a dangerous tint to them.

"Don't waste your time trying to look all bad at me. See, I know you, man," Howard said. "School Bus Sam. Mr. Fireman. You go all heroic, but then you disappear. Don't you? It kind of comes and goes with you. Everyone last night is all, "Where's Sam? Where's Sam?' And I had to say, "Well, kids, Sam is off with Astrid the Genius because Sam can't be hanging out with regular people like us. Sam has to go off with his hot blond girlfriend."

My face had suddenly flushed and I avoided Sam's gaze. Being called a genius in a mocking way was one thing but being called Sam's girlfriend? It was something I hated and loved being accused of at the same time.

"She's not my girlfriend," Sam said defensively while I discreetly looked at him, wondering what his response would be.

Howard looked satisfied as he laughed loudly. "See, Sam, you always got to be in your own little world, too good for everyone, while me and Captain Orc and our boys here, we're always going to be around. You step away, and we step up."

I turned my eyes to Sam, searching for his response. I wondered what would happen next. He was looking at the space above Howard's head, his eyes troubled. Sam wasn't one to run away but it was a question as to whether or not Sam would step up and announce himself as leader.

"I'm bored with this," Orc muttered after the silence had stretched for an impressive amount of time.

"Okay, Sam. You can go find Little Pe-Tard, but when you come back, you better have a nice present for the Captain. Captain rules the FAYZ, man." Howard grinned at them.

I narrowed my eyes at the new term. "The what?"

Howard's grin grew bigger. "I came up with that myself. FAYZ. Spelled F-A-Y-Z. It stands for Fallout Alley Youth Zone. Fallout Alley, and nothing but kids."

I raised an eyebrow and Howard looked me in the eye, laughing at his wit. "Don't worry, Astrid, it's just a FAYZ. Get it? It's just a FAYZ."

But I had a dark feeling that maybe it was not.


End file.
